right guys I’m not happy at all with my reversing.
Got it in the right place eventually this morning but after an audience of folk watching and sniggering. I’m still wanting to reverse the way I was trained (mirrors and bend the trailer round) but I’m being told I’m making it hard for myself that way. I’m trying hard to get used to the way I’m being advised…left hand and head out the window and not in the mirrors but it’s not working for me. I got it in the place the guy with me wanted it and then the forklift guys wanted it moved over a bit. After all that another truck driver wanted it further over in future (tight yard) so he has space to get out. Eventually got it in when I went back to facing forwards and using both mirrors.
There’s not much chance to practice my reversing doing what I’m doing so it’s tough. Think I’m going to hook the caravan up at the weekend and buy a stack of cones and try different angles and reverses.
I know as advised it will all click but it’s the hardest part of the job and although I know I’ll get it it’s still a bit of a panic.
Didn’t want to bump an old reverse thread but that one starring Boss&Driver is mental.
Mirrors are okay for reversing once you’re straight-ish and shuffling back. However, if you’ve got quite a bend on I’d be surprised if mirrors were as much use as hanging out of the window and seeing the back of the trailer directly.
I find that it looks completely different in the mirrors. Even on a straight reverse last week down a small ramped bay for which I used the mirrors most of the way, when I got out and took a look directly it was very different.
Do it the way you’re comfortable doing it. If you want to use the mirrors rather than putting your head out of the window then do but as has been pointed out, if your trailer is already blocking one mirror then you’re already up against it.
My boss managed to sort my reversing with some piece of advice. Start with daylight in both mirrors.
Whilst not entirely possible in all situations I haven’t fluffed a reverse since! Something I also found was that having the mirrors correctly positioned makes a world of difference. I came from driving a rigid to a job in artics so just had my mirrors how they were in the rigid. One change helped and that was to have the back of the trailer in the middle of the mirrors.
Only time I put my head out the window going backwards is when I’m going onto a bay at a certain green supermarket’s RDC but only because I feel the mirrors don’t accurately portray how close the trailer is to the vehicle on the bay next to me!
Lastly, sticking your head out the window is fine for watching the off side of your vehicle but not the near side…
Cheers for the great advice guys. As luck would have it I was all psyched for the reverse down at the hub tonight. Thought to myself tonight I will bloody nail it and you lorry will be my biatch.
Yup you guessed it… Yard Marshall put me straight into a forward drive and drop.
H4L:
Phew, got it first time up in the yard on way home, no shunt required. That’s probably 58 shunts less than yesterday lol.
Haha
You expert you !
Visualization could help,it’s not as daft (to some) as it sounds,before you hit the land of nod visualize yourself doing the perfect reverse,nothing to lose by trying it.
I visualize a pretend arc painted on the ground from my offside trailer tyres to the bay and concentrate on following that arc, it’s a bit like maybe a golfer would do when putting on a green.
You want to take the same arc in reversing as you would do when pulling off the bay.
Cheers mate. The curve into bays will be a laugh. The job I’m doing just now is very much a get your trailer straight and get back safely type. Main drop then off to a bay to pick up your next trailer. With that in mind I get very little practice at bay reversing. It will all come I’m sure once I have to do it in between trailers.
6 shifts in and it’s going as good as I could hope. It’s all experience and I just need to keep learning as I go.
I’m in the same boat I just past , I remember my trainer telling me treat your angles like a fifty pence piece to get yourself home and after turning to tight over and over again has rung true . But I’m still shunting like I’m drunk but I know it will come one day , soon hopefully lol . As long as you dint wipe anything out take as many shunts as you like and don’t worry about the sniggers at the end of the day you have cheered them up and they have been there too .
Mate, I feel your pain when it comes to reversing. Have my class 1 since November last year and I’m still an absolute amateur when it comes to reversing. Every other aspect of driving a truck I’m spot on with. I usually always end up over steering then have to shunt my way to victory. Worst is when I was at the docks in Liverpool. I got the most awkward pad in the place to back onto and took about 3 shunts to get it on. Felt like a right helmet!
Fellas, when I started I wouldn’t even trust my nearside mirror, if it wasn’t on my good side I just faffed around and ■■■■■■ about until it was. 10 shunts plus many a time.
Oh well, nobody died!!!
Worst thing that ever happened was that I went into a 15 I was trying to save for later in the week, because I made such a balls of trying to blindside it in at Magor services.
Concentrate on your initial positioning, get that right and the reverse itself will be much easier.
I used to struggle big time with blind side reverses into angled bays ‘on the fence’ at the depot. However, once I learned the trick of how to pass the bay about 10 yards or so, flip the unit hard right and watch in the mirror or out the back until the adjacent trailer appeared, then straighten up smartish, that lines me up like a champ most of the time. It does rely on having enough room in front of the bays, though. I still struggle hard at another yard where space is limited.
However, I am comforted to watch other drivers struggle too and I don’t feel so bad about it. So there you go, your faffing about is almost certainly making another driver feel better about themselves. Give yourself a pat on the back for helping someone out.
Here’s a few tips, Forward planning - look at where you need to be, where you are, and every bit of real estate between those two points. Visualize - Picture where and how you need to place yourself. Location Location Location - (actually it’s Position, Position, Position!) the better you set yourself up for the reverse then the easier the reverse will be, 98% of a reverse manoeuvre is done before you’ve even selected the reverse gear. Legs were made for walking - If you can’t see the end goalGet Out And Look Softly softly catchy monkey - Take your time both on the approach and the actual reverse manoeuvre, gentle and slight corrections are key, not frenzied lock to lock wheel spinning, you’re trying to get the truck on a bay not turn your Artic into an approximation of an epileptic snake! Don’t be a C* - Shunt - If you need to shunt then shunt, you don’t take home any less pay at the end of the week coz you had to take a couple of extra shunts! One track mind - Stay focused on the task, the minute you start letting your mind wander “OMG there are 15 drivers parked opposite and they are all watching me” you will mess up, I guarantee it! One step forward and two steps back - Don’t forget to open your back doors (and remove Number plate if dropping trailer), there is nothing more embarrassing than completing the perfect reverse only to have to pull off of the bay again to open the bloody doors!
I’m sure there are more tips but that should cover the basics
. But I’m still shunting like I’m drunk but I know it will come one day , soon hopefully lol . As long as you dint wipe anything out take as many shunts as you like and don’t worry about the sniggers at the end of the day you have cheered them up and they have been there too .